Lowell

In last week’s newsletter I wrote of the coming confrontation between the Lowell City Council and Sal Lupoli over his failure to commence work on one of the two buildings he had agreed to construct in the Hamilton Canal Innovation District (HCID). The Council’s Economic Development subcommittee heard from Mr.…

Actually, I almost died four times that summer By Charlie Gargiulo After me and mom finally got kicked out of one of the last apartment buildings left in Little Canada, we got placed in an apartment next door to where our old building still stood, waiting for the wrecking ball…

Liberty Bonds – (PIP #27) By Louise Peloquin Last week’s peek into the past – “The Franco-Americans of Lowell in the War effort” – mentions World War II government bonds. (1) Twenty-seven years earlier, during World War I, L’Etoile was also encouraging its readership to purchase them. L’Etoile – October 24, 1917…

“The Franco-Americans of Lowell in the War Effort” – (PIP #26) By Louise Peloquin      France is in effervescence preparing the Olympics and Paralympics to be held from July 26th to August 11th and from August 28th to September 8th, the third time Paris hosts the summer games. The first…

The most significant news from Lowell City Hall last Tuesday night was not the City Council meeting, which was unremarkable, but from the Council’s Economic Development Subcommittee which met before the regular Council meeting. UMass Lowell Chancellor Julie Chen made a presentation to the subcommittee on the University’s “Lowell Innovation…

A small spurt of drama arose at an otherwise straightforward Lowell City Council meeting Tuesday night. It came from something that wasn’t even on the agenda, the status of the Lupoli Companies project in the Hamilton Canal District. About 90 minutes into the 105-minute meeting, Councilor John Descoteaux spoke up…

This blog celebrates its 17th birthday this week. It was born on March 11, 2007. I purchased the URL “richardhowe.com” a year or two earlier in preparation for my 2006 reelection campaign for register of deeds. Once that campaign was over, I added Lowell City Council election returns to the…

What to do with the Smith Baker Center was back before the City Council on Tuesday in the form of a motion response from the city’s Department of Planning and Development. Here are the major points made in that report: A grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission is not a viable option…

L’Etoile and Women – (PIP #22) By Louise Peloquin      On March 8th, International Women’s Day, we remember the women who shaped our lives. Here is an example, kindly provided by Bob Vandenbulcke, whose father worked at L’Etoile. (1)    Women were always an integral part of L’Etoile. PIP #10, posted on…

On Tuesday night, Assistant City Manager/DPD Director Yovani Baez-Rose made an excellent presentation to the City Council on Lowell Forward 2040, the city’s comprehensive master plan update that will now be considered by the Council. The executive summary and the full plan are online. At more than 200 pages, the…